Reviews by AnHeroicHippo:

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Had this on tap at the Whale and Ale in Kitchener. It was cheap Keith's night, thought I'd give it a go.

Started off well. Poured into a typical Keiths glass, nice and dark, almost like a porter. Tan head, good lacing.

The smell was okay, but not very noticable. A bit of chocolate and coffee, a slight cola effect in the back. Not bad though.

The taste is where it completely fell off the rails. Bland, bland, bland! One of the poorest dark ales I've had in a long time. Only a bit of chocolate and coffee at the very beginning, bitterness at the finish; the middle was watery and boring. It literally tastes like a dark regular Keiths, like they added some dark malts to a Keiths vat and hoped for the best. I could finish it, however, and it wasn't repugnant. High praise...

Mouthfeel was thin and watery. No real redeeming factors here.

Very poor effort; not worth bringing to Ontario. Dark ale for the masses, really. It's a shame too, because there are so many better dark ales brewed in Ontario, but this one will get all the attention in pubs.

On-tap at one of the many proliferating local Canadiana-themed watering holes.

This beer appears a clear, very dark cola colour, with one finger of tight, thin creamy pale beige head, which leaves some decent webbed lace around the glass as it ebbs away. It smells faintly of roasted malt, and not much else. The taste is lightly toasted nutty malt, a bit of powdered chocolate, and faint weedy hops. The carbonation is moderate, though a bit prickly, which renders the body just short of smooth. It finishes off-dry, with some astringent nuttiness.

Definitely the best of the lot as far as this brewer is concerned. More of an English Brown Ale, and pretty plain all the same; still, I found this adequately drinkable. Huh.

Alexander Keith's Dark Ale is dark brown in colour, showing ruby highlights when held to the light. It's beige head doesn't last very long and doesn't leave much lace to show for it's presence. It smells slightly nutty & faintly roasty. It barely has a scent to it at all. It tastes like Keiths with hints of coffee and caramel. Light bodied with high carbonation; feels thin and watery. It's like they took the regular Keith's recipe and threw in some specialty malts. It tastes pretty bad and doesn't seem very well thought out.

One of the more drinkable of their beers, though mediocre for a dark ale. Pours deep brown without any lasting head. Neutral to slightly malty aromas. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, it is sweetish to begin with, but carries a small yet harsh metallic finish. I would not seek this out again.

I had this one on draft while in Ontario for business this weekend. Looked inviting, with a nice creamy head. Smell was mostly roasted malts. Taste was very good, a nice thick flavorful ale, similar in some ways to draft Guinness, but without the ashy characteristic. This is a great beer to kick back during a sporting event or while chatting with some friends at the pub. Much better than other Alexander Keith's brews I tried this week. I'd drink this with regularity if it was in my area.

Can: Poured a light black color with a small bubbly head with limited retention. Aroma of adjunct sweetness with limited character. Taste is also dominated by light sweetness originating from adjunct. Body is way too light with average carbonation. Bland, no character and too much adjunct makes this a bad beer.

Before I start this review I have to say that this is not an English Stout. Not even close. It looks like Alexander Keith's mislabelling is comtinuting with this offering. At least they changed the offical name of the beer from "Keith's Stout" to "Keith's Dark."

A - Poured a light to medium brown with a nice finger of cream-coloured head. Some visible carbonation. Not stout-like at all, but definitely somewhat dark, as advertised.

S - The nose is surprisingly interesting. Roasted malts with some sweet caramel. Enough to get me intrigued.

T - The taste is not as bold as the nose indicated. There is a solid roasted malt profile and some sweetness (caramel) in the background. A decent flavour profile.

M - Light body with a good amount of carbonation. Definitely not a stout-like mouth feel, but similar to many porters.

D - This is a half decent beer in comparison to most of the macro beer that is available on tap at regualr bars and restaurants in the Toronto area. I would order this again but only because the alternatives are so bad. Overall this is a decent beer but not a great beer.

Appearance - The beer pours a dark brown colour with a large frothy and fizzy light brown coloured head. I can't see much carbonation due the darkness of the beer and there is some good lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for 5 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - light chocolate, malts, smoke

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste light amounts of malt, chocolate and coffee. There is also a lot of adjunct flavour going on.. corn, grains etc. The beer comes across as thin and sort of watery. It finishes with a grainy aftertaste with a touch of coffee/chocolate.

Overall – Well, the beer looked nice in the glass.. but the taste really ruins it. Perhaps with some modifications this could be a pretty decent brew. I wouldn't buy it again.

Big tall boy can, why waste time on a grenade? Smells of roasted malts but not much hopping. Pours to a river in the iron range, translucent dark root beer color with a big foamy head. Upon tasting the first thing that stands out is that the mouthfeel is watery and thin. The taste starts with some well roasted malts then gets into a chaullky chocolate taste with a mild hoppiness and metallic finish. Tasty beer but indeed quite thin. The head however is durable and gains bonus points for appearance. Drinkable but not a standout.

Draught sample- A dark brown that lets some light in, pours a medium sized frothy mocha cap that recedes to a thin cap. Nose of toasty malts, some milk chocolate, mild pit fruits, some hops. Flavour profile is much of the same, with the chocolate, roasty malts, a bit nutty too. Somewhat fruity, leading to a slightly bitter finish to balance out the sweetness. Pretty good actually, but seems more like a Dunkel to me.

Regular tall-boy can received as a gift along with a bunch of other brews. I guess I'm the first to review a can of this stuff.

Pours an opaque black cola colour with a rather impressive tan head, but that may just be because I screwed up and poured too quickly. Retention is decent. It seems pretty good, at least visually - unfortunately this is basically the high point.

The smell is non-descript; to be honest I can't really make out any specific odours. 'Malty' is the only adjective I can confidently use here. This is a very fitting prelude to the taste, because that's about the only flavour I could make out; roasted malts. Maybe a bit of a coffee after-taste, with a faintly bitter finish. Not repelling, but not very creative for a dark ale. The carbonation is surprisingly low - at least they did not try to use it to mask the lack of interesting flavours. It definitely has a watery mouthfeel for a stout.

It's quite drinkable, and I can see how this would seem interesting to someone who has never had anything more exotic than Keith's IPA. But in the end it's just a bland offering for the style. Dark ale for the masses? Yep - I hear you, JohnnyBarman. I won't go out of my way to buy this again.